Urban Students Show Reading, Math Gains On State Assessments

Urban schoolchildren made substantial improvements on state tests
between 2002 and 2003, a study released here last week reports.

An analysis of scores from state-mandated tests in 61 urban
districts showed that 90 percent of the 4th grades tested improved
their test scores in mathematics, and 93 percent improved in reading.
The 8th grades also progressed, but not as evenly. In math, 83 percent
improved their scores, but in reading, only 53 percent did.

Other results showed that urban students were in some cases
improving their test scores at a quicker rate than were children on
average in their respective states. African-American and Hispanic
youngsters were also found to be closing the gaps between their scores
and those of white and Asian-American peers.

The test data suggest that a strong focus on student achievement in
urban districts is beginning to pay off, said leaders of the Council of
the Great City Schools, the Washington-based advocacy group that
performed the analysis. They unveiled the results during their
legislative conference last week.

Michael D. Casserly, the group’s executive director, said
urban districts have "gotten off to a pretty solid start" in meeting
their states’ accountability goals as required by the federal No
Child Left Behind Act. The challenge now, he said, is to accelerate or
at least sustain that progress, while focusing more attention on upper
grades to improve results there.

Cause and Effect?

The report, "Beating the Odds IV," represents the council’s
fourth annual analysis of urban schools’ performance on state
tests. But this year’s report is the first time the group was
able to examine the results of tests given to meet the mandates of the
2-year-old No Child Left Behind law.

The law, a revision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act,
requires states to set escalating targets that schools must reach when
they administer state tests to students. By 2014, all students will be
expected to perform at or above the proficient level on such tests. It
is up to states, though, to determine what "proficient" means, and
those definitions vary widely.

Mr. Casserly credited the law with helping districts to focus on the
urgent need to improve achievement, but said there is no clear
correlation yet between the federal law and student achievement. He
noted that many urban districts were making gains even before the law
was passed.

The No Child Left Behind Act has been criticized in some education
and political circles as overly rigid and insufficiently funded. Mr.
Casserly, whose organization helped craft it, said it might benefit
from being made more flexible and "better calibrated." But now is not
the time, he said.

"The rhetoric gets so heated, and people’s ability to think
straight isn’t at its highest in an election year," Mr. Casserly
said.

Cautious Optimism

While the analysis offered encouraging news, it also showed that
achievement gaps still persist, and that urban students’ test
scores still lag behind national averages.

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige said in a statement that much
work remains to be done. But he welcomed the study as an important
cause for optimism.

"These findings are especially significant because research shows
that it is often the students in the large city schools who need the
most help and face the greatest odds," Mr. Paige said. "Clearly, this
report demonstrates that if you challenge students, they will rise to
the occasion."

Leaders of several large districts, accompanying Mr. Casserly in
presenting the report, outlined some of the initiatives they believe
are making a difference in their districts.

Arlene Ackerman, the superintendent of the San Francisco schools,
said her 58,000-student district, which outperformed the California
average on state tests, has been able to drive more money to schools,
and to the students most in need, by streamlining the central-office
budget and adopting a weighted student-funding formula.

Schools have more power over their own budgets, she said, but in
return must meet 18 accountability targets.

Clark County, Nev., which includes Las Vegas, has boosted the
portion of students taking algebra by 8th grade from 10 percent to 64
percent in the last few years by undertaking a major initiative to
train teachers to teach that subject, said Carlos Garcia, the
superintendent of the 262,000-student system.

To improve reading performance in elementary schools, the district
has trained all of its teachers to be literacy specialists, he
said.

Leaders of the Council of the Great City Schools have pointed out
that urban systems that are improving often share certain factors, said
Mr. Garcia, who is the chairman of the group’s board. Such
districts concentrate on achievement, use data to guide their
decisions, and often standardize their curricula to eliminate
fragmentation in the instructional program.

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